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Chapter Massage Away Facial Tension |
Microexpressions |
All of us are constantly making microexpressions with our facial muscles A microexpression is |
an involuntary expression that is evoked by emotion They are very brief and last between |
and of a second It is thought to be very difficult if not impossible to completely |
suppress microexpression reactions These reflexes largely dictate our genuine emotional |
reactions to what happens around us Sometimes they turn out to be premature or socially |
unacceptable and in these cases we inhibit them and replace them with something else If you |
find yourself compulsively thinking negative thoughts during the day it is very likely that many |
of the automatic microexpressions you make are negative |
Most mammals that are not primates only wince when they experience physical pain |
Primates take the innate facial reflex of wincing to physical pain and generalize it to social pain |
Humans take it another step further We wince when someone chastises us but many of us |
learn to overgeneralize our facial analogies wincing even when someone congratulates us |
Pained maladaptive microexpressive habits like this are perpetuated by facial strain Massaging |
the muscles using the activities below will remove the frown the cry face the squint the blush |
and the sneer from the involuntary microexpressions that flicker across your face |
Facial Massage Techniques and Targets |
Releasing tension from your facial muscles requires the three techniques described in Chapter |
percussion compression and vibration Well start with a simple percussion exercise |
following the protocol laid out in that chapter Use a knuckle knuckle tool like the Jack |
Knobber or Index Knobber a coat hook baseball softball or Bonger to strike the dormant |
tender muscles repeatedly |
Facial Massage Exercise Soft Facial Percussion |
Use a knuckle or appropriate tool to gently strike all the major surfaces of your face Find a |
rapid easytomaintain rhythm as you go striking your muscles times per second |
The force of each blow should be roughly what you use when clapping your hands softly |
The blows that result in deep muscular aches will succeed in reducing excessive tone as long |
as you are breathing deeply Focus on your brow and cheeks but percuss everywhere |
including every inch of your nose orbits lips chin and jawline Soend more time on areas |
that hurt most The best time for this exercise is in the hours before bed so that your face |
can rest overnight |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
Frontalis Temporalis |
Procerus |
Zygomaticus |
Levator |
Labii |
Buccinator |
a in |
Platysma |
Orbicularis |
Oculi |
Nasalis |
Levator |
Labii |
Orbicularis |
Oris |
Mentalis |
Depressor |
Depressor Anguli |
Labii Oris |
Inferioris |
Ilustration A Woman with major facial massage target areas marked with an x |
B Underlying facial anatomy |
The area you massaged may feel slightly sore to the touch the next day Even so it should |
never hurt when not being touched No part of your face should ever become chafed swollen |
bruised or discolored those are all signs that you are striking too hard or for too long and need |
to scale back Dont skip a day just because the area is sore Gently working through the |
soreness day after day will keep the hypertonia from resurfacing |
There are also a few important notes about advisability |
Do not massage your eyeballs only the orbits around them |
If you have injected filler or any cosmetic substances into your skin compression may |
not be safe |
There are a wide variety of dermatological conditions that contraindicate massage |
so if you have any reason to worry about your skins sensitivity integrity or safety |
please consult your doctor prior to attempting selfmassage |
have compressed tissues on nearly every corner of my face and have not experienced any |
injury whatsoever |
Chapter Massage Away Facial Tension |
lustration A These are the best tools to use on the face Do not use the smallest coat hook third from the |
right The tip is too small and thus works too well It will reduce muscle tone so much that it will cause healthy |
muscle to atrophy Pictured from left to right three sizes of eyebolts x x x Jacknobber |
Index Knobber Bonger The smooth end of a Sharpie marker or coat hooks with a rounded tip can also be |
excellent tools |
Much of the remainder of this chapter describes how to use compression on every muscle |
of the face After just six days of performing these exercises for ten minutes per day for a total |
of an hour you should attain noticeable results The extent of the results will depend on your |
breathing If you breathe five breaths per minute while performing the exercises the results |
will be dramatic If you normally breathe more than breaths per minute you may find that |
compressing the facial muscles is painful and that hard compression injures rather than |
releases them If this is the case you should return to Chapter and spend more time |
rehabilitating your breathing before continuing with this regimen |
There are many layers to the tension and it may take months or years to achieve optimal |
results Your progress should be consistent and readily apparent however and you should |
expect the gains you experience to be longlasting Most of the exercises can be performed |
from a standing or seated position The ones that use a tool especially the eyebolt are best |
performed by placing the base of the tool on the ground or a flat surface and pressing the |
area of the face to be compressed into the top of the tool using the weight of the head |
The diagrams below illustrate how this can be done with an eyebolt seated kneeling |
or lying down |
Illustration A B C Comfortable positions for facial compression Ensure that the tool does not slip and |
bump into your delicate eyeball |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
For each of the facial massage exercises below you will be using a knuckle finger or tool |
to search for and press gently against the sorest muscles Please see the compression protocol |
from Chapter Move slowly across the area ensure that each press overlaps with the last |
Hold each press for two to ten seconds Once you have massaged the whole area start over |
As you practice maintain paced breathing |
Around the Eyes Orbicularis Oculi |
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